Most ancient Chinese horse coins display only a horse with no rider. Horse coins displaying a horse with a rider are much scarcer and those originating from the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) are particularly rare. The specimen at the left is a later version of one of these Song Dynasty horse coins with a rider. [...]
Chinese charms
In ancient times just as today, people were concerned about their safety when they traveled. So it is not surprising that safe journey or safe travel charms compose a major category of old Chinese charms. A rubbing of one of the more interesting examples of this type of charm is shown here. The inscription, written [...]
“Open work” charms are among the most interesting and oldest of all Chinese charms. These are bronze charms which have irregular shaped “openings” or “holes” between very exquisite design elements. The themes are purely pictorial so there is rarely any Chinese character or inscription. Also, owing to the design, both sides of the charm are [...]
I received a fascinating email from a visitor to my website from Kazakhstan in which he described a rare ancient zodiac charm in his possession. The Chinese zodiac is based on a twelve year cycle with an animal having unique qualities representing each year. The zodiac charm discussed here has the animals displayed on one [...]
The Chinese have a long history in regard to the quest for longevity. Qin Shi Huang (259 BC – 210 BC), the first emperor of China, sent expeditions looking for the mystical Penglai Island, where the immortals lived, in his quest to obtain the elixir of life which would allow him to live forever. His [...]
I received an email from a visitor to my website asking if I could provide him with any information on the charm shown here. The area surrounding the square hole shows four couples making love in various positions. (Or, one couple making love in four positions.) Charms of this type are actually fairly common. The [...]
I received an email regarding a Chinese tradition of girls hanging little shoe charms over their beds in the hope of finding love: “Recently I was in Cape Cod and went to a very interesting store where a woman was selling ancient Chinese charms. “She told me the story of how Chinese girls used to [...]
I received the following inquiry: “I have been trying to decipher, without total success, a chinese cast bronze charm – my very tentative guess would be Ming Dynasty – and wondered if I could send along a digital image of the two sides? On the front side two of the characters are (I believe) for [...]
I frequently receive correspondence from people who have a coin or charm they would like identified. The following is my reply to such an inquiry and I have attached a rubbing of the charm for reference. It is a charm. However, it is based on an ancient form of spade money called a “Huo Bu”. [...]